danger watch
by MissingMommy
Summary: Charlie gets assigned to look into a recent string of attacks from robotic dragons that appear to be controlled by Malfoy Industries. He didn't know what it was going to lead to. :: CharlieDraco, mad scientist!AU


For LSS with the prompts: AU: mad scientist, word: beneficial, object: knife, and color: pastel blue.

For OTP bootcamp with the prompt: carcass

So many thanks to Laura and Bex who helped and beta'd.

* * *

"Hey Charlie! Boss man wants to see you," someone calls from his right.

Charlie groans. Just what he needed; more work. He has a stack of reports a mile high that he hasn't had the time to do until now because he's been swamped with his field work. He tosses the report he's working on onto the pile and drags himself away.

He knocks once on the office door and waits for permission. When it comes, he enters.

"You asked to see me, Dumbledore," Charlie says. He's standing in front of a large wooden desk. There's not a lot of personal items on the desk, which never surprises Charlie. They are in the business of blending in so they don't keep many personal items.

"Ah yes, Mr Weasley." Dumbledore motions towards the only chair in the room. His beard is long and silvery. He glances up from the report he has in hands, peering over the top of his half-moon spectacles. "Just the person I need. I just received a job for you."

Charlie sits quickly, intrigued. "What is the job?"

"There has been a string of recent attacks by dragons," Dumbledore explains. "Several dead and even more injured, not to mention all of the property damage."

"Dragons don't exist, sir," Charlie replies easily. He has always been intrigued by the mythological creatures when he was growing up, but he's never pretended they were real.

Dumbledore chuckles as he touches the screen on his desk. A shimmering blue hologram pops up. Charlie is face-to-face with a metal dragon. Charlie reaches up to twist the hologram, looking at it from every angle. Then he furrows his eyebrows and takes a second look at the tail.

"So you see it too," Dumbledore notices.

Charlie enlarges it until he can see it clearly. "That's the mark of Malfoy Industries," he replies. He looks away from the beautifully designed dragons. "What is that mark doing on them?"

Dumbledore folds his hands together. "That is what you are going to find out. Malfoy Industries has recently had a change in ownership. Following the incarceration of Lucius Malfoy, his son, Draco, has been named the new CEO." As Dumbledore is speaking, he taps on the screen again, closing the hologram. He passes over a file. "There's not much known about Draco other than he's the lead designer for all of their projects."

"You're thinking that Draco Malfoy is creating these dragons," Charlie remarks. He opens the file, glancing through the information they have on Draco. It's an impressive list of credentials. He can't help but whistle. "What makes you sure about this?"

"We're not," Dumbledore refutes easily. "But these attack just started happening a few weeks after he was named CEO."

"That seems a little _too_ coincidental," Charlie points out skeptically. "You would think that someone of this caliber would cover up their involvement a little better." Realization hits him and he sighs. "You want me to check it out to see if the scientist is a murderer."

"In short, yes."

He scrubs the palms of his hands across his eyes. He picks up the file and moves towards the door. "I'll report back when I have something."

* * *

Charlie does what he does best - he pours over the files from every angle, looking for his way in.

Security at Malfoy Industries is tighter than he was expecting. There's no way that he'll be able to pass as a scientist. Even if he could, he wouldn't come in contact with the CEO. He needs another way in.

But the security around Draco isn't nearly as tight as the rest of Malfoy Industries. Draco has his own separate staff, including a publicist, a personal assistant, bodyguard, and a chef. He digs further into each of his staff.

Charlie can see why Draco hired them; each of these people seem unshakeable and unlikely to take a bribe or deal under the table, which are two of Charlie's favorite ways to worm his way close. He turns to the next best thing - a fabricated history for the personal assistant. He chooses her purely because it will get him the closest.

Once that is done, he makes up a history for himself. He's extremely thorough. He makes sure that while it's clean, it's not perfect. He knows from experience that a perfect history looks too suspicious.

After that's done, he checks the clock. It's after four in the morning. He rubs his eyes and decides that it's time for bed. He'll implement his plan after he's gotten some sleep.

* * *

The next morning, he calls Percy. "I need a favor," he says in lieu of a greeting.

He doesn't have to see his brother to know that Percy is rolling his eyes. "Why is it you only call when you need me to hack something?"

"Would you rather idle small talk?" Charlie questions. "I thought you hated that."

There's a long pause. "What do you need me to do?" Percy says, sighing in defeat.

Charlie tells him the plan.

He isn't surprised when Percy asks incredulously, "You do realize that what you're asking is nearly impossible to do, right? You want me to hack into bank records and Malfoy Industries to make it look like the personal assistant has been skimming money from the company."

"That's why I called you," Charlie answers easily. "You're the best I know."

"It would be easier to try to hack into his files," Percy complains.

"They've already tried. It's the best firewall created, from what I've heard. You can try to hack in but apparently, he has an AI that rewrites the firewall," Charlie replies, laughing. "Comparatively, this seems like the easier task."

He can't hear what Percy is doing over the background noise. "Lucy, Molly," Percy calls, "there is no running in the house!" Percy sighs. "When do you need this done by?"

"I was hoping midday," Charlie says offhandedly. He shuffles through his closet, looking for his best suit and tie. He's deciding between the bright blue and pastel blue ties when Percy answers.

"Are you insane? Have you considered that Malfoy Industries has tight security? Maybe not in the league of Malfoy's personal security, but good enough."

He eventually settles on the bright blue tie. "Are you saying you can't do it?"

The sentence has it's desired effect. "What? Of course not! I can do this," Percy argues.

"Call me back when you've done it," Charlie says, smirking. He ends the call. He has several things to do today. He might as well get started.

* * *

Charlie doesn't leave anything to chance. He decides the best way to ensure he gets the job is to bring Draco a coffee.

He's waiting outside of Malfoy Industries the next morning, knowing that the man would have to come into the office after news of his assistant's dealings hit. It's half past eight when a car pulls up. Charlie takes a long gulp of his coffee, enjoying the sweet drink, and observes as the driver holds the car door open.

The blond man that steps out of the car looks immaculate. Charlie's seen the pictures that the World Threat Analysis Agency has but it's nothing compared to reality. He almost forgets his objective. He barely manages to shake himself into action.

"Mr Malfoy," he calls, walking up to the blond. "I heard you were in the market for a new assistant." He offers the cup of coffee. "And I thought you may want this."

The man doesn't take the cup from Charlie. "How do you know about that?" he asks suspiciously. "I kept it out of the news."

"Ah, well, my family is old friends to your old assistant and I heard the news last night from her family. I still can't believe it," Charlie lies smoothly. "I've been in the market for a job. This is too good of an opportunity to pass up."

"Interviews start tomorrow," he says curtly.

"I'm sure," Charlie replies. "I just figured that you probably had your assistant pick up your coffee. You seem like the type to like your coffee black."

"What's your angle?" Draco demands, turning to face Charlie, his eyes narrowed.

Charlie takes another drink of his coffee, tasting only the lie he's been rehearsing. "I'm looking to further my career. Having Malfoy Industries on my resume would be beneficial."

He stands perfectly still as Draco surveys him. Finally, after a while, Draco plucks the drink out of Charlie's hand and takes a long gulp.

"Fine. You'll have a trial period starting now, only because I really hate the interview process and I could really use a new assistant now."

Charlie doesn't hesitate to follow Draco into the building. Step one, done.

* * *

"Do you need anything?" Charlie says as he pushes the intercom button. The light indicating that the lab is lock isn't on but he doesn't go in.

" _No, you can go home,_ " Draco replies.

He can hear the sounds of the other man working on a project. He wants to ask but he knows it wouldn't be wise. He's only been working for him for a few weeks; there's no way he earned Draco's trust in such a short amount of time.

"Okay," he says, pressing the button again. "I'll see you in the morning."

He turns and leaves for the night.

* * *

There are times that Draco locks himself away in his lab for days on end. These are the days that he spends sitting in Draco's personal office, with orders to handle the phone calls without disturbing Draco. It leaves Charlie running his hands through his hair in frustration.

It's day three of Draco's lock-in when Charlie gets a call on his personal phone. It surprises him. "Hello," he says.

" _You check the news recently_?" his co-worker asks.

"Right. We were supposed to have lunch today," Charlie whispers. "I'll see if I can make it. I'm really sorry I forgot."

He hears the soft laughter of his co-worker. " _I'll text you a location,_ " she tells him. The line goes dead after that.

Charlie stands and presses the intercom button. "Mr Malfoy?"

"Draco," he is corrected easily. "Is it important?"

"I'm about to take my lunch. Do you need anything?"

"No," Draco answers. Then he hears a yawn. "I'm heading to bed anyways. Don't bother coming back in. I'll see you tomorrow."

He doesn't bother arguing. "Good night," he answers. His phone chirps as he gathers his things.

He takes the train a couple of stops before he gets off. The restaurant is only two blocks from the station. He spots a woman with bubblegum hair sitting at the table on the patio, sipping on a fruity looking drink.

"Tonks," he greets, taking a seat across from. He picks up the menu.

The woman slides the second drink towards him. "My question remains: have you seen the news?" she questions.

Charlie takes a long drink. It's fruity and delicious; Tonks picks well. "I haven't. I have a feeling we covered it up. When was the attack?"

"Last night," Tonks says.

Charlie swear, shaking his head. "I have a bad feeling about this," he murmurs.

The waiter comes by to gather their orders. Tonks doesn't waste any time getting back on topic when they are left alone again.

"Is the CEO involved?"

"He's been locked in his private lab for days now," Charlie says. "There's something off about it though. I don't think he's involved."

"We need more than you don't think so," Tonks reminds him.

"I know. I'm still working on it," he answers. "This whole thing just seems like a set up."

"Whatever it is, you need to figure it out soon. People are getting hurt."

He closes his eyes, sighing. "I know."

* * *

Nearly a month later and Charlie is still no closer than he was before. He's settled into his role as an assistant. That's the only thing he has been able to accomplish. He runs his hands through his hair, sighing, before gathering the paperwork for the day.

"There are some things you have to make a decision on," he announces into the intercom.

He waits a long moment before there's a loud beep. The door to the lab swings open. He takes this as his invitation and walks in.

The lab is, simultaneously, exactly what Charlie is and isn't expecting. It looks exactly like the labs at Malfoy Industries. There's computers off to the right, in a semi-circle. The rest of the room is open and bright.

There are several work stations throughout, with various projects in various stages lying across them. Despite everything, it doesn't seem cluttered; there is a place for everything. On the left wall, he notices a walk-in vault.

"Is there an issue?"

Draco's voice brings him out of his thoughts. He shakes himself out of his thoughts.

"No," he answers, offering Draco the files in his hands. "Just curious. You have several meetings in the next two days, notably Regulus Black from Skyreach."

"Great," he groans. He pushes away from his computers and looks at Charlie with a frown. "Got any good news?"

Charlie gives him a smile. "The annual gala for Malfoy Industries is in a few months. There are some decision about that to be made."

"I asked for good news," he reminds him.

"Well, you only have to make decisions about this once a year," Charlie says.

Draco hums, drumming his fingers against the chair. "Call Astoria Greengrass," he offers decisively. "Have her plan it. That's her area of expertise. Tell her that I'm not expecting it to be a favor, to send me the bill."

"Understood. That's all I have for you," Charlie says. "Do you need anything else?"

"No, that will be all."

* * *

Most of the next three months are routine. He does the paperwork, gets Draco's input or opinions when necessary, and answers the phone when it rings. Draco's chef is wanting to know when to cook.

Charlie looks at the door of the lab, debating whether or not to disturb him. The light isn't on so he can go in. After a few moments of considering, he decides that there shouldn't be any issue with him going in.

"What's this?" Charlie asks softly. All thoughts of food vanish when he sees the work station.

Surprisingly, the blond doesn't even jump as Charlie comes up behind him. "Hand me the wrench to your left."

Charlie quietly hands it to him. He waits for the answer.

Draco is leaning over the work station furthest from the door. There is a bronze colored carcass of a metal dragon laying across the table, the panel on the stomach open, the eyes wide and lifeless. Charlie can't see what he's doing with the wrench but a while later, he pulls away from the body.

The blond is wearing goggles and he's covered in grease. He pulls off his gloves and tosses them to the side. When he looks at Charlie, there's something _bright_ about Draco's face that he can't help but like the way it looks on the blond.

He realizes, in that moment, that there isn't any way in the world that Draco could be using the dragons for attacks. He cares about them too much.

"This is Eliseo," Draco announces, patting the bronze dragon. "I've been working on her and a few others for months. I've been having a few issues that I'm still trying to work out."

"Issues?" Charlie repeats. He reaches out to brush his hands against the metal before he can stop himself, looking up at Draco with amazement. "Are you serious? These are works of art."

Draco grins. "Not quite yet, but they will be. Once I figure out what is causing the mechanical issues I've been running into."

The blond opens the vault and picks up the dragon. It's the size of a large dog; it doesn't look easy to carry. He places it gently in the vault.

"Are you just making a dragon for the hell of it?" Charlie asks, watching.

Draco motions him into the vault. There are three other dragons laying around, all in various state of completion. "I'm not really an animal person. I get too caught up in work, as you've probably noticed. I wanted to create a companion of sorts."

"Cats are generally self sustaining," he points out.

"They still need to be fed," Draco replies. He gestures to the dragons. "These won't. All of the pleasure of having a furry companion with none of the drawbacks. Well, when I figure out what is causing the circuit boards to melt. Besides, who wouldn't want their own dragons?"

Charlie snorts. "I know I did when I was a kid. I've always been really into dragons." Then he furrows his eyebrows. "Wait, are you going to sell them?"

Draco walks out of the vault with Charlie on his heels. "Probably not," he answers as he locks it. "They would be too dangerous for the masses."

"Do they blow fire?" he asks. He knows the answer, but he wants to hear it from the blond.

"What kind of dragon doesn't blow fire?" Draco asks, frowning. "It's a causing their circuit boards to fry, but I will figure out."

Charlie has more questions on the tip of his tongue but the phone rings. "That's probably your chef calling back about lunch."

"Have him send enough for the both of us. I'll tell you about the dragons over lunch," Draco says decisively. He glances down at his dirty hands. "It should be done by the time I get cleaned up."

Charlie watches as Draco disappears through a second door behind the computers before he listens to the voicemail left. He finds himself looking forward to lunch with the blond.

* * *

Charlie is sitting in a diner the next morning, digging into a pile of pancakes when Tonks slips into the booth opposite of him. Her bubblegum hair isn't styled and she's wearing a jumper a size or two too big. He can see the dark circles under her bright eyes.

"For heaven sake, Charlie, it's just after five on a Tuesday morning. You couldn't have called me at a decent hour?" she asks.

"Late night?" he asks, grinning.

She flips him off. "What's going on?"

His grins fades. "It's not Draco," he says. "And I need a little push to figure out who it is."

"How do you know?" She quirks her eyebrow as she grabs a strawberry off his plate and pops it in her mouth. It's then when the waiter shows up to take Tonks' order.

"I saw the robotic dragons," Charlie answers after the waiter leaves. He drops his fork and scrubs his hand across his face. "You didn't see the way he look at the dragons. He cares about them too much to do something like this." He looks up to meet her eyes. "Just trust me; it's not him."

She frowns. "I trust you," she assures him, taking another strawberry. "Who else has access to his private lab?"

"His personal staff," Charlie answers, picking up his fork. "But I checked all of them out when I was infiltrating. None of them stand out and none of them has been anywhere near the lab since I started."

"Has anyone else been in?"

Charlie shakes his head. "I'm always in the office that leads to the lab. I would see anyone who enters. But there's been no one. Not that I saw at least. I don't have access to the security footage to see if anyone shows up after I leave."

The waiter drops off Tonks' meal and drink refills for the both of them. Tonks takes a sip of her orange juice. "Okay, what about the employees of Malfoy Industries? Could it be one of them?"

"Maybe?" Charlie answers uneasily. "But that would mean having his blueprints on Malfoy Industries' main frame, and we found no evidence of that. He's also not the type to leave his blueprints at risk like that."

"It's your best lead," Tonks says. She digs into her food.

"I hate when you're right," Charlie groans. He throws several bills on the table as he rises. "Keep me in the loop."

* * *

The lock-ins stop after Draco shows him the dragons. Well, more accurately, he no longer keeps Charlie out of the lab; he keeps the other people out. Not that they happen often. There has only been five lock-ins since he started working there seven months ago.

Charlie foregoes the knocking as he enters the lab. He has an urgent call from Bellatrix Lestrange. The woman on the other end of the phone is displeased and nothing short of talking to Draco will calm her.

"Draco," he says loudly, trying to be heard over the noise.

The blond is leaning over a different station than the one he was using when working on the dragons. He has several tools spread across the station. He pulls off the welding mask.

"Yes?"

"What are you working on?" Charlie asks, instead of relaying the message.

"Nanobots." The other man picks up a tiny object from the station, showing it to Charlie. "It should revolutionize the medical industry."

He leans forward, studying the object. It's tinier than he's expecting. He meets Draco's eyes. "How?"

"In a lot of ways," Draco replies. "Could help detect cancer, high blood sugar, high cholesterol. That's only the beginning."

Charlie can't help but grin at him. There's something about how much he cares about each of his new inventions that gets to Charlie; the way Draco could carry on about it that intrigues Charlie. Maybe more than intrigues him, if he's being honest, but he has a job to do.

He clears his throat. "Bellatrix Lestrange from Étrange Tech is on the phone. She's not happy."

"She's never happy," Draco retorts.

* * *

Charlie is woken up by the sound of his phone. The moon is still high in the sky and no sign of dawn anywhere near. He groans as he scrubs his hand across his face, answering the phone with his other one.

"Yes?"

" _It's happened again,_ " Tonks informs him. He can hear her inhale sharply. " _There was an incident. The military finally got a lock on one of them._ "

"One of them was shot down?" Charlie demanded, the grogginess of sleep fades almost instantly.

" _Yes. The military is trying to locate the landing site._ "

He swears. Several times. He pulls his phone away from his ear, looking at the time. "This is bad."

It doesn't reassure him when Tonks doesn't disagree with him.

* * *

He is vibrating with nervous energy when he shows up for work the next morning. The door to Draco's lab is standing wide open when he enters his office. He doesn't bother to go in. Instead he takes a seat at the desk and waits.

He can hear voices coming from the lab, but he can't make out the words. After a few minutes, Draco exits his lab with another man right behind him. Where Draco is light, this man is dark.

"Have you checked your security feeds?" he asks.

There is nothing soft about Draco's face when he glares at the other person. "What do you think I am? An idiot?" he snaps. "Of course I checked my feeds. Blaise is looking into it."

"What's going on?" Charlie asks, injecting himself into the conversation.

Draco and the mystery man turns. Charlie immediately recognizes him as Theodore Nott, the company's COO. Understanding hits Charlie hard. He kicks himself for not realizing it sooner.

"What are you doing in here?" Theodore sneers.

"He's my assistant and you'll watch your tone," Draco says, his tone warning. "Can you see where Blaise is?" he asks Charlie.

He nods, picking up the phone. As he talks to Draco's head of security, he keeps half of his attention on Draco and Theodore. Finally, Theodore leaves and Draco heads back to his lab. Charlie finishes up with Blaise as quick as he could; he doesn't want Draco to be alone for long.

He approaches the blond. "Blaise is still looking into your security breach," Charlie informs him quietly. Then he looks at the pieces of the once extraordinary dragon and his face softens. "What happened?"

Draco tears his eyes away from his work station. When he meets Charlie's eyes, all he can see is the sadness and anger in his eyes. He looks back at his dragon. "I don't know. I found him like this when I came in."

Charlie reaches out and clasps Draco's shoulder. "I'm sorry," he whispers sympathetically. "Can you fix it?"

"Him," the blond corrects, not bothering to move away from Charlie's hand. "I had just managed to fix Aio's flight system yesterday. I was going to test it today."

"I'm sure you can fix Aio," Charlie assures him. He drops his hand and heads toward the door.

"I hope so," he hears Draco mutter.

* * *

Charlie doesn't hesitate to enter Draco's private lab. After he enters, he comes face to face with an angry Draco. In all the time Charlie has spent with him, he's never seen the other man truly angry.

Draco eyes flash dangerously. "Was it all a lie?"

"You figured it out," Charlie notes. His eyes flicker towards the dragon at Draco's feet that is emitting steam. It looks like Eliseo. "How'd you figure it out?"

"Was it all a lie?" Draco repeats.

The words feel like a knife to Charlie's heart. "I never lied to you," he answers. When Draco snorts, he adds, "At least about me. I lied about my work history or skills, but I didn't lie about me."

"Is that supposed to make a difference?" Draco asks. "I trusted you."

Charlie runs his hand through his hair. He starts to pace. "Are you wanting me to say sorry? Because we both know that's not going to change anything. I had a job to do."

"So all of this," Draco gestures around, "was nothing more than a job?"

He groans. "That's not what I meant and you know it," he says. "I didn't have a choice in lying to you about some things. I needed to figure out if you were a danger."

"Excuse me."

Charlie searches Draco's face. There's no sign that he knows what Charlie is talking about. "You seriously don't know? Do you even watch the news?"

"Why would I do that?" he asks.

"To see what is going on around you," Charlie answers. He shakes his head. "You know what? Nevermind. That's not important. Can I use your computer?"

Charlie doesn't wait for an answer. He moves across the room towards one of the computers. He pulls up the recent news reports, gesturing for Draco to join him. Draco leans over his shoulder to read.

"You can't be serious," Draco says incredulously, moving around Charlie to take control of the computer and scroll through the articles. "People believed that I did this?"

"It looked like it. But the moment I saw you working on your dragons, I knew it wasn't you. I stayed because I was trying to figure out who was trying to frame you," Charlie explains quietly.

Charlie watches as the small metal dragon perches itself around Draco's leg; it appears to try to comfort the blond. Draco pats the top of the dragon's head. He turns to look at Charlie.

He's shaking in barely contained rage. "Who was using my dragons to hurt people?"

"Your COO," Charlie answers. "Theodore Nott. I haven't figured out how yet, but I will."

"No," Draco says, the rage draining out of him. "Theo wouldn't do something like this. He _wouldn't._ "

Charlie wants to reach out and comfort the blond, much like the dragon wrapped around his leg, but he doesn't know if it would be allowed or wanted. "I know he's your friend, but I swear I'm not lying. He was using your friendship to get access to the dragons. I don't think he was working alone, though."

"What are you going to do about him?" Draco questions. He was expecting some remark about how he had lied to the blond. He was expecting more anger or something more than defeat.

Charlie shakes his head. "Nothing yet. I just figured out it was him. I alerted my boss, who will probably arrange for him to be picked up."

"Who do you work for?"

"I'm not supposed to say," Charlie says chuckling. "But until you, I never met anyone I wanted to tell more than I want to tell you."

Draco snorts. "You're ridiculous. Are you going to tell me or what?"

"Ever heard of the World Threat Analysis Agency?"

"You know I haven't," Draco retorts. Then he turns fully, facing Charlie. "You got my last assistant fired!"

Charlie rubs the back of his neck. "Yes, but I got her a job with my agency which included compensation for being fired and excellent benefits."

"I give the best benefits around!" Draco exclaims. He moves away from the computer and Charlie, heading towards his workshop. "What if I want her back?"

"What?"

Draco gives him a half-smile. "I'd be an idiot if I thought you would stay. I'll need another assistant to fill in when you leave. Who better than the assistant I had?"

"I don't have to leave right away," Charlie whispers.

"It's better this way," Draco says.

Charlie nods. "Okay. I've never enjoyed an assignment this much."

He goes to slip past Draco when he feels Draco's hand on his wrist, keeping him from leaving. He turns around to search Draco's face.

"You're either an idiot or blind," Draco murmurs.

He glances down at his wrist, where the blond is still holding it, and back to his face. "I don't understand," Charlie says.

"Then let me be clear: be my date to the gala this weekend," Draco asks. He lets go of Charlie's hand.

Charlie huffs out a laugh. "You got yourself a deal."

Draco grins. Then he leans down slowly, giving Charlie plenty of time to pull away, and presses his lips to Charlie's. Charlie rests his hand on Draco's hip, pulling the taller man closer. He tilts his head to kiss him deeper.

Then they pull away. Charlie grins. "I'll see you on Saturday."

"Looking forward to it."


End file.
